Apple Announces Peer-to-Peer Connectivity for iPhone App

Apple announced Tuesday that iPhone Software 3.0 will include the ability for two iPhones or iPod touches to connect directly to other iPhones/iPod touches running the same app. This feature will allow games to offer head-to-head gameplay, or allow to users to quickly exchange contact information.

"With the new APIs, you can bring up a standard system panel which finds other touches or iPhones which are in the same app," Apple executive Scott Forstall said, according to an Engadgetreport. "You form an IP connection, and you can game together. This will automatically discover running apps, wirelessly over Blutetooth."

The technology is based on Bonjour, the network discovery platform built into Mac OS X and (iPhone runs on a tailored version of Mac OS X called simply OS X), and users will be able to discover each other other through a system panel.

As alluded to above, the API will be open to any application, not just games, though initially we are likely to see an explosion of games offering the feature.

They specifically said that Peer to Peer was only Bluetooth and not WiFi. However, I have come across an article at Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/17/2g-ipod-touch-to-have-bluetooth-capability-unlocked-by-iphone-os/) that says in the Q&A they revealed that 2G iPod Touch’s have Bluetooth that can be unlocked. What do you know of this? The only Q&A transcript I saw (at Gizmodo) didn’t included this question or answer